Disturbia (song)

"Disturbia" is a dance-pop song written by Andre Merritt, Chris Brown,^[1] and Robert Allen for the re-release of Rihanna's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad Reloaded, and is the second single from the album, following "Take a Bow". The song was produced by Brian Kennedy with background vocals by Brown and Merritt. It was featured in a Circuit City commercial. On September 7, 2008, she opened the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards with a live performance of the song.

The song was originally written by Chris Brown and his team known as the Graffiti Artizts and was considered for the re-release of his album Exclusive. However, Brown felt that the song would be better suited for a female singer; he then forwarded the song to Rihanna. Def Jam had considered saving the track for Rihanna's next album in 2009, because she had already recorded "Take a Bow" for the re-release of Good Girl Gone Bad. However, Rihanna and her team felt that the song was a summer single and needed to be recorded and released as soon as possible. The decision was finally made to release the song as the follow up to "Take a Bow".

The song follows in the footsteps of Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music" by being a fast and upbeat pop/dance-rhythmic song. However, in contrast to the upbeat music of "Don't Stop the Music", it is lyrically dark in tone, and is about being in a confused state of mind, in mental pain, anguish, depression, schizophrenia, and hysteria.

Billboard magazine critic Jonathon Newan describes "Disturbia" as "a collaboration of lyrical genius with upbeat rhythmic cadence. By far it is Rihanna's most intuitive and self-honest song off Good Girl Gone Bad. More discotech and enjoyable than "Umbrella", and more extroverted than "S.O.S". It's a sure summer-topping hit."^{[This quote needs a citation]}

The video for "Disturbia" was filmed in late June 2008. It is directed by Anthony Mandler and co-directed by Rihanna.^[2]

The video, which seems to be her darkest yet, begins with a short intro before the music begins with Rihanna spinning in a chair, followed by a scene where she is in a cage, wearing a short blond wig and light blue contact lenses which cover her eyes entirely. For the first verse she can be seen on the piano, on her "throne" and an electric chair with a dancer on each side (one with a fan, another with heavy handcuffs). She is also smoking on the electric chair. When the chorus starts, she is lifted in the air by her dancers. The chorus continues with her dancing with the dancers in front of a bright yellow light.

The imagery of the video is also reminiscent of Madonna's collaborations with photographer Steven Klein on photographs and video installation pieces that first appeared at Deitch Gallery in New York, NY and later as part of Madonna's Re-Invention World Tour. The photographs were also featured on the cover and in an editorial in W magazine.

When she sings the line "disturbia" she is seen in a bed frame. In the second verse her hands are tied to a piece of wood and her face is pushed up against a wooden pole. There is also a fire beside her. When she sings "It's a thief of the night/I feel like a monster" she is with a mannequin on a couch. The camera is sometimes placed behind some metal spikes. The chorus begins and the dancers in front of the light scene start again. Although when she says "disturbia" again she can be seen with her limbs in the wall/floor with a few tarantulas on her. She is wearing a feathered head piece and a body suit. The video shows all the scenes quickly before the breakdown. In the breakdown her feet are chained together and her hands are chained together and into the floor. She is in a cell with a low ceiling, so low she has to bend over. She is struggling to get free. The video ends with different shots of earlier scenes, excluding her with the mannequin and her being tied to a piece of wood. Additional scenes are her wearing a feather boa and her also wearing a headdress. The video was choreographed by Rihanna's long time choreographer, Tina Landon, who is best known for her work with Janet Jackson.

The "Disturbia" video was exclusively on iTunes for a 48-hour period. It debuted on MTV's TRL and BET’s 106 and Park on July 24 2008 and on VH1 on July 26. It debuted in the UK on August 1, but in the rest of Europe the video debuted on September 8, receiving immediately High Rotation on MTV.

On June 26, 2008, "Disturbia" debuted at number eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Rihanna's highest debut on the chart to date, as well as her sixth top twenty from Good Girl Gone Bad.^[3] The next week, the song rose to the eleventh position, but experienced a drop to fifteen the week after, staying there for two additional weeks. However, the next week after the release of the video and a massive increase in sales and radio, the song jumped to number four, making Rihanna the sixth female singer (Madonna, Whitney Houston, Donna Summer, Mariah Carey and Ashanti being the other five) to have two songs in the top five concurrently, as her previous single, "Take a Bow", was at number two that same week.^[4] It is also her sixth Top 5 single on the Billboard Hot 100. The following week, the song reached number three, surpassing her other hit single, "Take a Bow".^[5] For the chart week of August 23, 2008, "Disturbia" knocked out Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" to become Rihanna's fourth number one hit on the Hot 100 and held on the top spot for the week ending 30th August.^[6] It is her third number one from Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, following "Umbrella" and "Take a Bow"^[7], staying at number one for two weeks so far. On July 29 2008, "Disturbia" jumped to number two on the Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart, topping it in the following week.^[5] "Disturbia" then jumped to number one on Billboard Hot Digital Songs chart. Coincidentally, on both charts "Disturbia" has peaked on, it knocked off Katy Perry's single "I Kissed a Girl" from number one. On the issue date September 6 2008 the song was knocked off by "Whatever You Like" by T.I.. It has also topped the Pop 100 chart knocking off Chris Brown's "Forever" from the top spot. It again reclaimed the top spot after being moved to number 2 by "Forever" for a week. For the Billboard issue dated 13th September, "Disturbia" topped both the Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts. Rihanna ties with Madonna for the most number of Dance Airplay hits, with a total of six.

In the United Kingdom, "Disturbia" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number forty-seven due to digital sales. After the release of the music video, the song re-entered the chart at number forty-seven again and climbed to number thirty-four and number nine in the proceeding weeks. The song currently has peaked at number three, from digital only sales giving Rihanna her eighth British top ten single. "Disturbia" will receive a physical release on September 22. The song also debuted at number forty-five in Ireland, rising to number seven after the release of the music video. It has since peaked at number four for six consecutive weeks so far. On the Canadian Hot 100, the song has peaked at number two. On the United World Chart, the song has peaked at number 2.

In New Zealand, "Disturbia" has become Rihanna's third overall number one song, and her first since "Umbrella". It is her fourth top five hit, and fifth top ten hit there from Good Girl Gone Bad, since "Hate That I Love You" peaked at number six and was certified Gold in its eleventh week with sales of 7,500+. In Australia, it has climbed to number six. The song was the most added song to Australian radio in its first week of major radio release.^[8]

In Switzerland, the song peaked at number eight on downloads alone.